Sage Garden Cafe

Very disappointing. We ordered one cold sandwich on what seemed like a slow day. Waited 30 minutes and they brought out the wrong sandwich. Service was very slow. Don’t waste your time.

Excellent and very popular place. Large portions on fresh baked breads. Tasty combos and exceptional flavor with bacon. Iced tea was excellent. Desserts looked very good. Indoors has limited seating, but there is a shaded patio in back. Went two days in a row. We couldn’t get in the 2^nd time and we were there about 1:30. I’d definitely go again to try their Monday night fried chicken dinners.

Made a stop after getting a recommendation from an aquaintance who lives in Lexington. We were on the bourbon trail, and Sage Garden Café sounded like the perfect stopover for a fresh and healthy farm to table lunch. The place is attached to an enormous nursery and all or most of their produce comes from right next door. It is adorable from the outside and has an open air patio. Couldn’t be bad, right? … Wrong.
The menu was geared more toward the «blue haired ladies luncheons» of old. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but it is not at all what we expected! The offerings were very much on the sweet side,
mayonnaise-​y, lots of fruit in the chicken salad, and the veggie offerings were very basic and uninventive. It was difficult to find a couple of sandwiches we even wanted to try.
We decided on a couple of sandwiches and were less than impressed. The breads would have been delicious on their own, the very best part of the sandwiches — but I had a BBT and I still don’t know why it was called that. (It was bacon, smoked turkey and some kind of cucumber cream cheese and an unripened tomato slice — yuk). It was overfilled, heavy and gummy — and had absolutely no taste! The oatmeal walnut bread was fresh and homemade but way too sweet for this sandwich. It may have been a bit more palatable if it was toasted or grilled, but it was sweet and soft.
My husband ordered a Hot Brown Panini (which should be called a «panino» — panini is plural!) and there was a cup of some kind of cheddar sauce for dipping. It had no taste of cheddar, but tasted more like warm cream. Another strange combo, and also tasteless.
On top of that, the sandwiches took over 50 minutes to arrive, and the place was only ½ full. The service was really bad — as if no one had been trained at all. All of the waitstaff were running back and forth and seemed to be just trying to look busy, and we noticed many other diners getting upset about their waits for basic salads or simple sandwiches, etc. Our waitress kept coming back to our table to tell us that the food should be out shortly, but after 4 X of doing that, she just made herself scarce. Before she disappeared, she kept asking if my husband wanted a refill on his lemonade, and kept bringing them in new glasses. He had three empty glasses of lemonade sitting on the table — each time we asked her if she would take them away and she said she would be right back to get them, but didn’t take them until we literally lined them up in the middle of our 2 top and made it so there was no room for her to put down the sandwiches (when they eventually came).
Once we were about ½ way through the with our lunch, we decided it would probably be a good idea to get the check when she passed by so we wouldn’t have to wait again. We had a lot of ground to cover and tours to do and this was taking way too long. Our entire lunch took over and hour and a half for 2 sandwiches.
So, If you are thinking that this is a ideal spot for a quick and delicious lunch — it’s not. Unfortunately it was neither for us.

I really wanted to support a local business on Mother’s Day, but their service was HORRIBLE!
We expected a long wait with a group of six and were happy to wait 45 minutes. They were so disorganized, though, that they lost the piece of paper they wrote our name on. Hey. That happens. We were happy to wait another 20 minutes. TWO HOURS after arriving, they rudely said we had to wait for every reservation to get sat before they would seat us. Our size of party was just more than they could accommodate. Six. People.
I can handle a wait and I understand mix-​ups, but being treated like an inconvenience — as if THEIR disorganization was our fault — is just bad business!
So we had Papa John’s for Mother’s Day! Thanks, Sage. We won’t be back. EVER.

Fresh and tasty little spot. It’s definitely quaint inside as well. While I’ve only done carry out its always rather refreshing. The sourdough bread is my preferred choice with the chicken salad.
Wilson nursery is also a great place to get your annuals and perennials for the year.

My last two trips to Sage have not been good. I think Sage is better for their bread. My sandwiches have not been good lately. Two carry out orders have been awful. First one, I ordered a Monte Cristo with their homemade cranberry sauce. The sandwich came with grape jelly instead. Were they out of cranberry or just a mistake? I don’t know but Monte Cristos are not very good with grape jelly. Chicken salad sandwich was fine.
Went back again yesterday. I again ordered the Monte Cristo but made sure that the cranberry sauce was in the bag. It was but the sandwich was not appetizing AT ALL. It had been grilled on a dirty grill and the bread had black, burned oil spots on it instead of golden brown grilling. I didn’t eat it. It looked filthy. CLEAN YOUR GRIDDLE SAGE!!!
I give up. No more Sage for me.

I’ve been a long time fan of Sage but they have made menu and recipe changes that I am not a fan of. Presentation of food used to be impeccable but today was sloppy. My Cheese Pleaser (pimento cheese sandwich) was missing the sprouts and the ONE tomato slice was small and super thin. The cheese was a ball in the middle of the sandwich and so cold I wasn’t easily able to spread it around the sandwich so that it wasn’t 3inches thick in the middle and non-​existent on the edges.
All in all I was very let down from this visit. I will come back to give them one more chance but if that’s bad too, it will be my last. I hope that today was a fluke.

If this restaurant were in Louisville, I’d give it three stars due to the lack of flavor of the food. Four of us dined for lunch and everyone commented that their sandwich was under-​seasoned. I had the special of the day, a buffalo chicken wrap (which contained no buffalo sauce) with the herb roasted potatoes (which contained no herbs). The meal was pretty bland.
However, this restaurant is in Frankfort, in a sea of corporate restaurants. So in Frankfort, Sage Garden is deserving of four stars. The food is fresh and the ingredients are high quality. The dishes are creative. And the food is definitely good. If they could just infuse a little more flavor, it would be great. The service was great and the restaurant itself is beautiful. It’s located next to a greenhouse, and the patio is lovely.
If you’re in the area, definitely come here over Applebee’s, etc. Sage Garden is worth a visit!

Sage is a fresh café done right! I have dined here several times, and carried out when I couldn’t stop, and I have always been happily surprised by the fresh ingredients and careful preparation. I love the space — open and inviting — and I love the food here. I have eaten delicious chicken salad sandwiches (where chicken was the true star, not the mayonnaise!) freshly made on thick, fluffy slices of house-​made bread. I have eaten delicious angel hair pasta with a sundried tomato pesto that was so good I asked for the recipe. I have eaten a salmon sandwich with beautifully moist and flavorful fish, perfectly seasoned, and, more than once, I have grabbed a bag of hand made garlic crackers and eaten them with fresh pimento cheese and a perfect piece of fruit.
Sage is well worth the extra ten minutes it takes to get here from Midway or Frankfurt, and I can’t say enough about the quality of the food. Their menu offers salads and desserts, as well as fresh soups and sandwiches, and they do boxed lunches for groups and events. Sage is a healthy alternative to miles of fast food offerings, and my new go-​to place for lunch :-)

This is such a local gem! I had my wedding at Buffalo Trace and the next morning 20ish of my friends from Chicago and other cities joined us for late brunch/​lunch. This restaurant handled our large table with ease and the food was fantastic! All my friends still rave about this place! It’s so charming, wonderfully decorated, and the service is great.
I had the pimento cheese sandwich which came topped with bacon. Bacon! So so good. Everyone in our party loved the food.
Thanks for a memorable lunch with our closest friends!

It is surprising finding a restaurant right next to the nursery but that just means they grown their own fresh ingredients. I love coming here for lunch on my work trips because not only are the ingredients fresh, but the food is delicious. The sandwiches are nice and thick and the salads are Huge. One of my favorites is the Thai Salmon Salad with Mandarin Oranges and capers, it’s so good i ordered it on my last two visits. The ambiance and atmosphere of the restaurant is very nice but casual and with a homey feel. It is a struggle finding a restaurant to eat in Frankfort, much less a good one. Give it a shot, you won’t be disappointed.

Nicely appointed spaces, both inside and out. Great use of absolutely beautiful plantings, and just about anything one might want as far as cool garden /​patio furniture, planters, etc., as carried by Wilson Gardens. A beautiful setting to spend the afternoon on their patio enjoying a cool beverage.
A fairly creative menu of soups (didn’t try — it’s summer), salads (good), sandwiches (some better than others), burgers (didn’t try, but plan on it next time), and a small number of sides (starches, fruit, salads).
Many ingredients were higher quality than one usually finds in Kentucky. Yep, even in Louisville or Lexington (snort).
Pleasant and helpful staff.
So, why only a three star rating? Because, and this is entirely worthy of an all caps BECAUSE: SEASON YOUR FOOD. Sure, there’s more than salt and pepper (and I can certainly understand not wanting to oversalt, but FTLOG on a recent visit, literally everything we were served tasted just the same as every other thing we were served, because nothing was seasoned). «Roasted herbed potatoes» were neither roasted (red potatoes, entirely white on all cut potato surfaces — roasted, my nuts), nor herbed (again, that would involve adding something, anything, anything at all that would actually be both visible and able to be tasted. Literally no flavor. Couscous /​quinoa salad tasted of nothing until I came home and added a dash of salt, a few dashes of pepper, a healthy dose of shallots and pepper, and about a teaspoon of Penzy’s Greek seasoning. Then, it was marvelous.
But, as served? it tasted like boiled couscous with the occasional crunchy quinoa «bug»…since a serving of this item involved literally one slice of olive (not one olive — a slice), one small slice of already quartered artichoke heart (again, not a quarter of an artichoke heart, a paper-​thin slice of a quarter of an artichoke heart), a 32^nd of a seeded tomato (for comparison purposes, an equivalent would be an eighth of a small seeded grape tomato — honestly, there wasn’t enough of it for me to be able to identify what sort of tomato it was), and several large feta hunks.

Perfect little spot for a quick and yummy lunch. I had the chicken salad sandwich. It was great! The bread they use is AMAZING!
They could step up their pickle game. I hate a limp pickle… and the kettle chips were fine, but they’re kettle chips you can get at the grocery store.
Definitely worth visiting.

Went for lunch on Sunday. Good menu, relaxing patio. Modified their hamburger to be on sourdough toast for me. Excellent. Took our time and wandered through the nursery. Nice afternoon.

My husband took me on a lunch date here today. Amazing! I couldn’t stop gushing over the place. I haven’t been that in love with a restaurant in a while. I will definitely be back.
The décor is gorgeous — nature inspired, rustic yet modern with lots of greenery. They have a wine selection, extensive dessert list, and a great kids menu.
The menu changes seasonally and everything is fresh and delicious. I had a sandwich with turkey, bacon, guacamole, lettuce, tomato on homemade oatmeal walnut bread with the Tuscan vegetable soup which had squash, cabbage, white beans and carrots. It was so good! Everything else on the menu looked great as well.
My husband has to stay on a strict lowfat diet for medical reasons and there were lots of options for him — as well as healthy, but more fattening foods for me. Perfect. There also seemed to be quite a few vegetarian options.
I seriously wish this place was right next to my house.

I’ve been coming to Wilson Nursery for years. On my last visit I encountered a new to me feature, The Sage Garden Café. What a delight! Rather than picking up fast food on my trip to Frankfort I was able to enjoy a leisurely lunch at Sage Garden Café.
So many choices on the menu from soups, burgers, sandwiches, etc. I drooled over each description. The menu does a good job revealing the components of the dish so that a person like myself can avoid allergic reactions to tree nuts or specific spices. My final dilemma was between the butternut squash soup or a ½ sandwich and a cup of soup. The bowl of soup won out. It was absolutely delicious to the very last drop.
I’m looking forward to coming back and trying something else from the menu (probably the Hot Brown Sandwich). I’ll be planning future trips to Frankfort around my lunch schedule so that I can eat at The Sage Garden Café.

Awesome service over the phone — they’re super nice and always gets our orders right. Sandwiches and burgers taste pretty fresh and their bread is pretty good. Their soup sizes are tiny so u should get the bowl, not the cup size. Good for lunch

I have been coming to Sage since it opened, and they have gone through a lot of changes. I usually don’t accept changes well, but it seems that it’s always improvements. My favorite has always been the chicken salad on that yummy walnut cranberry bread, but lately I have taken a liking to the Mary Cat’s Monte Cristo — with cranberry sauce for dipping! The atmosphere is great! They carry local wines from Prodigy Vineyards, my favorite! They also gve out coupons on the receipts for 10% off at Wilson’s Nurseries next door! The desserts are sinful, but worth it — they have a local lady that makes them. The staff is friendly and most of them know my name even though I only get there about once a month.

Yup. The picture I took makes the Black Bean Burger look horrible. So maybe they shouldn’t burn the food that they know is going out the door in a box and they wouldn’t have a cruddy photo on their Unilocal site huh? Any-whoo…The BB burger was delicious after picking off the burnt bits and cutting out the «core» of the tomato. I definitely feel that it was overpriced as well but at least it tasted good. Remember to not follow the Unilocal directions page as it will take you to the wrong place!!! you need to look up Wilson’s Nursery on your GPS and go with that. I did take home a loaf each of the sourdough and the walnut breads based on previous Unilocaler’s recommendations. I loved the walnut bread. Very good! I would go back here just to give them another go at not burning my patty and for more of the bread to take home. :)

Food was delicious, everything else was okay and I’d definitely go back if I lived in the area.
Location is somewhat remote but if you want to shop at the nursery next door it could be a worthwhile trip. I also suspect it’s one of few local health restaurants in this city.
Menu was really great. There are many vegetarian options, not many vegan but I made it work with a black bean (mostly grains actually) veggie burger on walnut bread with a side of the best fruit I’ve had yet this season. Really abundant portion sizes, good value, delicious and my special order came out right the first time.
My travel buddy enjoyed the Helen’s choice sandwich and a mediterranean couscous salad about which she raved.
Service was a little slow but, to be fair, it was extremely slammed on the sunniest lunchtime afternoon in late April. It’s also very loud inside due to it being a small but beautiful and sweet venue.
There were lots of wonderful health and whole foods for breakfast that I was sorry to miss and some selections of teas and coffees I’ll try if I make it back.